I actually got paid to go shopping today!

I know you're thinking that I just did one of those mystery shops to get paid to shop, but nope. I actually saved so much money today with my regular shopping that I came out ahead!
I've been waiting to share one of these days on Gather for a while now, but I never seem to do well enough(at least in my mind) to post it. I'm so impressed by all the other Gather members that can save bundles on each shopping trip.
Today's trip consisted of DSW(Discount Shoe Warehouse or something along those lines), the Dollar Tree, Ukrops(local grocery chain), Kroger(conveniently located about 100 yards from Ukrops so I don't even need to move the car to go to a competing store) and Plato's Closet(teen consignment store).
DSW-Thankfully I made it out of here without buying anything otherwise I would not be ahead today. I merely went in there to see what shoes are available. I'll be making the dress I'm going to wear to the wedding and I just wanted to see what was out there in case I find fabric I like that doesn't go with shoes I already have(doubtful since I have about 150 pairs of shoes. No, I'm not joking).
Dollar Tree-I stock up on wrapping paper throughout the year, but whenever they get their Christmas gift bags in, I always buy some for last minute/"I don't feel like wrapping" gifts. They're also a great place to find wine bags inexpensively. I had no idea that some places charge like $3-$4 a piece for those things. While I was in there, I found a few extra things I "needed":
Gift bags/wine bags: $27
Nail polish/manicure set: $2
Funny notepads to go in Christmas giftbaskets: $2
Total: $33 approx. with tax included
Ukrops: They had meat on sale, provided you bought it in bulk, so I got 10 pounds of hamburger for $1.25 a pound
The also had toilet paper on sale and I had a coupon bringing the total for a 12-pack roll down to $1.25
I stocked up on canned veggies at 35 cents a can. I got 25 assorted cans. Total: 8.75
Total: $25 approx including tax
Kroger:The only reason I went in here was because the boyfriend and I are having a big cookout this weekend for the football games on Sunday and they have a promo for 10 hamburger/hotdog bun packs for $10. I somehow got out of there with just that, which never happens.
Total: $11 approx. including tax
Total so far: $69
Now for the part where I actually made money back. Plato's Closet(not sure if this is a local chain or if it's national) but it's a consignment store for juniors clothing. Since I'm no longer in high school(nor have I been for almost 10 years now), I decided it's finally time to get rid of the stuff that makes me look 17(not to mention the stuff doesn't fit...it's actually too big!). Anyway, I went through all my old clothes and found about 2 trashbags worth of clothes. I hauled all that over to Plato's Closet and they wanted to give me $128 for it!
That means I made $59 by cleaning out my closet and going grocery shopping! Woohoo!